Itchy dog

[tomiandme]

Same problem. He's usually pinkish in his tummy area and armpit. What is really alarming is we went to a different vet for 2 months already. Tried changing his soap from the regular scented soap to sulfur soap and now we are trying aloe vera. My current vet said that we might try oral meds but still hopeful about his new soap. 

 

 

[ricey]

My girl Keisha is a 9 year old rescue old family red nose American Pit Bull Terrier; these dogs are known for their allergies. I tried for 2 years to keep her allergies under control by washing her weekly with Aromesse Dermacton shampoo bar. This worked to a degree, but never really fixed the problem. I removed chicken from her diet and this helped a little bit. I put her on a single protein diet, feeding her Prime100 SK-D Kangaroo and Pumpkin and this helped a lot. However, she was still chewing at her butt and paws, and her armpits were still red and sometimes raw.

 

I finally gave up and spoke to my vet about Apoquel. He advised me that cytopoint injections would be a better option. As I trust my vet completely, I had Keisha have her first cytopoint injection. The next day, the redness was gone and she stopped chewing her butt and paws. My oh my, she was so much happier and relaxed and comfortable. This lasted for 7 weeks until she started chewing her butt again so I took her to the vet for a second cytopoint injection. Same story; the next day the redness was gone and she wasn't chewing her butt. I am ok about having Keisha injected with cytopoint every 6 to 7 weeks in spring and summer (her allergies usually settle in autumn and winter).

 

Cytopoint is not cheap; approximately $155 per injection. With your dog, an injection might only last for 4 weeks, so that's nearly $40 per week. I have been lucky with Keisha in that each injection lasts 7 weeks (8 weeks is a max). If I need to have her injected 3 to 4 times a year, I am happy with that. The improvement in her quality of life is worth it.

 

Cheers, ricey

Edited January 11, 2020 by ricey
missed a word

[Kazm]

Just a further update on Molly’s itchiness. All has been great until December and the hot, humid days arrived. She had an itchy incident same time the previous year also. We saw a different vet then who just gave her a shot of something that stopped it all. We ( my new vet, as of April last year and I )now think it is environmental/seasonal. My main concern is that if we take her for a walk when it is still quite warm and the sun is directly on her she comes out in red blotches which drive her nuts. As soon as this happens if I can cool her down the redness disappears in less than 10 minutes and she calms down. Obviously we do try to avoid those situations. We visited the vet this morning and we are now trying an antihistamine. She thinks she may just need it through the warmer season. If of course they work. Summer weather doesn’t appear to be much fun for anyone. 

[Kazm]

After much trying of different things the vet and I decided on molly  having a cytopoint injection. This has worked brilliantly ( just like ricey ‘s comments above) We are just two weeks into it and I’m hoping that it will last for a few more weeks by which time the cooler weather will be mostly here. Last year the cooler months were good for her. No irratations at all. The injection as ricey said isn’t cheap but just to see Molly bouncy around playfully again is worth it. The trial of antihistamines didn’t work and both the vet and I were not happy about keeping her on prednisolone. This seems a better option. Of course if she starts itching through the cooler months we are going to seriously look at her diet. We have eliminated certain things already but we’ll see how this goes. Fingers crossed.